Text Size

-

+

reset

Here’s Thursday’s Senate 5:

1. WILL ANYONE BE WATCHING IN VEGAS? — Will tonight’s vice presidential debate boost or eclipse viewership of the Nevada Senate debate? The Reno Gazette-Journal wonders whether it will be tough to attract a large TV audience for the second meeting between GOP Sen. Dean Heller and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley since it takes place at 11 p.m. ET, right after the nationally televised debate between Vice President Joe Biden and GOP VP nominee Paul Ryan. The Gazette-Journal also points out the Las Vegas debate will be competing for eyeballs with baseball playoff games, the Steelers-Titans game, and a PAC-12 college football matchup. Recent polls show Heller leading the race, so the pressure’s on Berkley to shift the momentum.

2. MANDEL’S PRESS PROBLEM — It’s not unusual for Republicans to be wary of the press, but Josh Mandel’s relationship with Ohio media outlets is so bad that it’s marring his own comeback narrative. Mandel tangled with a Canton, Ohio, radio show host Thursday, refusing to answer questions about hiring campaign aides and political confidants to staff the state Treasurer’s office. For most of the combative 3-minute back and forth Mandel chose to talk over queries about staffing decisions and salaries, accusing the host of being a pawn of Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s campaign. “Just answer the question,” host Ron Ponder implores before lecturing the candidate and cutting the line. “Don’t come on and just use this radio program as a foil to get out your campaign material. Hang up on this dude, man.” Mandel could have calmly defended the salaries and work of his staffers, but the Marine instead went into attack mode, which rarely comes off well on talk radio.

3. FLAKE GOES THERE — She already had gone on the record about Arizona Democrat Richard Carmona. It was only a matter of time before Carmona’s former boss starred in a GOP ad attacking the former U.S surgeon general’s character. Dr. Christina Beato, who supervised Carmona when she was acting assistant secretary of health from 2003 to 2005, looks straight into the camera and recounts the story of how Carmona pounded on her door in the middle of the night after a work dispute. “I’m a single mom. I feared for my kids and for myself,” Beato says in the ad as ominous music plays in the background. “Carmona is not who he seems. He has issues with anger, with ethics and with women,” adding that Carmona “should never, ever be in the U.S. Senate.” The ad is simple, powerful, and serves to tarnish the seemingly flawless personal narrative of Carmona, a Vietnam combat veteran, lawman and physician — a story that’s boosted his Senate chances against Republican Rep. Jeff Flake. The Cuba-born Beato cut the ad in Spanish as well.

The Flake campaign says Carmona lacks the temperament for the Senate, and Beato’s story — first told in secret testimony to congressional investigators in 2007 and reported by POLITICO in May — appears to advance that narrative. Carmona’s campaign denied Beato’s allegations, calling her a partisan who tried to politicize science in the agency and wasn’t confirmed to her post because she had lied on her résumé. “It’s no secret that Dr. Carmona pushed back on her attempts to spin science for political gain, but this accusation is a work of fiction,” said Carmona campaign manager Alexis Tamerón.